Hopeless and Innocent are Kind of the Same Thing
by Ella D. Scottson
Summary: Maria Hill is hopeless when it comes to love, and Steve is too innocent to do anything about love; they're so caught up in saving the world, they don't even realize how much they have in common... including feelings. Series of oneshots/chapters of Captain Hill as they develop their relationship. Start at K , but we'll see. This story is interactive: see Author's note.


"You know he's a terrible kisser, right?" Romanoff said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure he's only kissed…three times in his ninety years." There was a smirk across Romanoff's usually serious face as Hill looked over at her, genuinely confused. "I just thought I'd give you a heads up." As her typical self, Hill made no revealing expression, realizing what she was talking about as Romanoff glanced her way. "But if anyone's going to teach him-"

"This conversation is wildly inappropriate, Agent Romanoff," Hill said coldly, staring straight ahead.

"Alright, Agent," Romanoff glared with amusement, "Sorry, Agent." They stood in the elevator in silence with a whirring hum in the background as they were lifted level by level. "Seriously though," she said after a few seconds, "I've tried to set him up, but he's always made excuses. Now, I see why."

"Agent Romanoff, please!" Hill choked sourly, turning swiftly to stare down at her redheaded nuisance, "You may feel comfortable trying to set up Captain Rogers, but you shouldn't apply that same comfort to me." Romanoff didn't seem deterred in the slightest; in fact her eyes gleamed proudly as though Hill had reacted exactly as planned. Hill's cold stare didn't waver.

"Floor 23," the cool, accented voice announced as the elevator doors opened.

"Thanks Jarvis," Hill said, still locked with Romanoff's plotting sneer.

Her face felt hot as she and Romanoff went over to the living room where Tony and Banner were playing a fierce game of Tetris, the hologram of which took up the entire sitting area. Captain Rogers was off to the side, reading the paper, something Tony mocked him for almost everyday. For the first couple days they had all been living together, he put Rogers through a tech boot camp. But a few days in, Hill had found him in a bathrobe, hiding under the stairs with a newspaper. _The world's greatest super soldier_ , she had thought, _hiding from the world's oldest toddler just to read a paper._

"Why do I always feel like a should salute every time you walk in the room?" Tony asked rhetorical as he shifted a t-set of blue cubes perfectly onto his of other blue cubes. He was losing to Banner.

"Because you should," Hill said proudly. As she walked right through their game, she noticed Romanoff going over and sitting by Captain Rogers. She kept an eye on them as she grabbed a bottle filled with protein shake for breakfast. Hill knew this was part of the plan; Fury didn't think she was enough of a team player, so he threw her down here with the ultimate team. It made her uncomfortable. At this point, she was the coldest one here. Even colder than Natasha Romanoff, who was trying to be friendly with her. _But, I didn't join S.H.I.E.L.D. to make friends,_ she told imaginary Fury in her head, _I joined it to protect people._ There was too much going on, in her opinion, for her to be down here playing house with the Avengers.

"Stark taught me how to use his fancy stove," Rogers said. He was standing on the other side of the counter, staring at her. For a man genetically modified to be god-sized, he was ridiculously stealthy. But, Hill didn't show her surprise. "Call me old fashioned, but eggs are better than whatever it is you're drinking," he gestured to her shake, which clung to the sides of the bottle every time she took a swig.

"If you were old fashioned," Hill said with a slight kindness, "you'd be expecting _me_ to cook for _you_."

"Well, I guess I always was ahead of my time," he smiled a little. He had such an innocent smile, that 90-pound kid with asthma smile that he never lost even with the bulk and the swooning girls. She never questioned why the greatest S.S.R. agent of all time was smitten with him.

"It's alright, Cap," she said, nudging her head towards the elevator, "I've gotta train anyways."

"You're part of the team now. You can call me Steve, you know," he was staring at her with a look that made her uncomfortable. I know your type, he was probably thinking, the perfect soldier. But you're still a person.

"That wouldn't be very professional," she said, mixed with a bit of confusion and awkwardness. The offer of first-named basis embarrassed her for some reason – probably Romanoff's fault.

"You've done it before," he said.

"That's because I was getting ready to shoot you out of the sky," Hill said simply, "Call it sentimentality."

"Back in the forties, we had a different word for it."

"There was a word for not shooting people out of the sky?" Hill raised her eyebrow as Rogers followed her to the elevator, "That's sad." Why was he following her? She hadn't asked for his company.

"No. Although we did it often enough that maybe we should have," he stopped and folded his hands behind his back as if honoring her exit, "The Greatest Generation… not all we're cracked up to be." Hill stared at him a little sympathetically as the doors started to separate her view of him, Romanoff eyeing them from a distance. "That word, by the way," Rogers added, quickly stopping the doors with one hand, "it's friendship." 

Author's Note: I've never done this before, but I kind of want to interact with my readers, so here's the sitch: Each chapter will alternate PoV between Hill and Rogers. I have chapter two. After that, I want to hear what the people want. Occasionally I'll write a scene that's been in my head, and if you guys think this sitch is stupid, I'll just take over. But I know that we all want to see things in our favorite shows and movies, and the writers never seem to listen to us. So, ask away gang xxxElla


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